Think it’s colder than usual? You’re absolutely right

Area sees more snow, more frigid temperatures than normal so far in February

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Covered with ice and snow, the Chemung River is a symbol of frigid temperatures Monday in this view toward the Northside of Elmira. Friends of the Chemung River Watershed remind the public that river ice is especially dangerous and should never be trusted to support the weight of a person or pet.(Photo: RAY FINGER / STAFF PHOTO)Buy Photo

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Pipes freeze, cars won’t start as area falls 1 degree short of tying low-temperature record Monday

It was warmer in the Great Plains states and Alaska Monday than it was in Elmira.

Shortly before noon when it was 5 degrees in Elmira, it was 18 degrees in Bismarck, N.D., 23 degrees in Lincoln, Neb., and 33 degrees in Pierre, S.D., according to the National Weather Service.

By early afternoon, when the temperature had risen to 8 degrees in Elmira, it was 34 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska, the weather service said.

And you didn’t have to look far to find evidence of the cold temperature’s impact in the Southern Tier. Customers were calling the Elmira Water Board about their frozen pipes. AAA Southern New York in Elmira Heights got more than a dozen calls during the first few hours it was open from people whose cars wouldn’t start and needed their batteries jumped.

“We do have a 24-hour service, so there’s no telling how many calls came in before we opened,” said Pam Patterson, branch manager. “With these temperatures, it’s really very bad.”

And it’s not expected to get above freezing anytime soon. The National Weather Service in Binghamton predicts a high near 21 degrees Tuesday, 20 degrees Wednesday, 8 degrees Thursday and 11 degrees Friday.

It will warm up a little for the weekend but still won’t get above freezing: 24 degrees on Saturday and 29 degrees on Sunday, the weather service said.

“We’re definitely looking at another stretch of well-below-average temperatures,” said Joe Veres, chief meteorologist for WENY-TV, the Star-Gazette’s media partner.

That’s because of a big dip in the jet stream, he said. “The pattern has been fairly consistent throughout much of the winter.”

The region eased into winter on a mild note, with December’s temperatures 3 degrees above average, Veres said. But the pattern changed in January, when temperatures were 6 degrees below average for the month as a whole. That is quite a departure, he said.

“Anytime you get more than a couple of degrees away from normal as a whole, that’s pretty impressive,” he said. “Twenty-two of the 31 days in January were below average, temperature-wise. That’s where our pattern began to change, and this month has been exceptionally cold.”

February’s temperatures so far are averaging 12.7 degrees below average, “which is a tremendous departure from normal,” Veres said. “Fifteen out of the 16 days so far this month have been below average, temperature-wise, and most of those days have been quite a bit below average.”

The area was just 1 degree shy of hitting record cold temperatures Monday morning, when it was -13 at the Elmira Corning Regional Airport in Big Flats, he said. The old record set in 1943 was -14.

Just a bit more than halfway through this month, the snowfall total is 5-6 inches higher than usual, Veres said. A normal February averages 8 inches of snow, but so far, 131/2 inches of snow has fallen this month, he said.

“It does appear we’re in for another shot of arctic air later this week. Thursday and Friday, it looks like some spots aren’t going to get out of the single digits again for high temperatures. Beyond that, I’m trying to look for a silver lining here,” he said.

“Temperatures are expected to ease a little bit over the weekend and early next week, but then towards the end of next week, it looks like another shot of arctic air comes down,” Veres said. “So while things may get better temporarily as we go into part of next week, it looks like we’re going to be hit with some frigid temperatures again.”